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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.16034 |
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Table of Contents:
- Refusal behavior in aligned LLMs is often viewed as model-specific, yet we hypothesize it stems from a universal, low-dimensional semantic circuit shared across models. To test this, we introduce Trajectory Replay via Concept-Basis Reconstruction, a framework that transfers refusal interventions from donor to target models, spanning diverse architectures (e.g., Dense to MoE) and training regimes, without using target-side refusal supervision. By aligning layers via concept fingerprints and reconstructing refusal directions using a shared ``recipe'' of concept atoms, we map the donor's ablation trajectory into the target's semantic space. To preserve capabilities, we introduce a weight-SVD stability guard that projects interventions away from high-variance weight subspaces to prevent collateral damage. Our evaluation across 8 model pairs confirms that these transferred recipes consistently attenuate refusal while maintaining performance, providing strong evidence for the semantic universality of safety alignment.